Damping Mode

A joint stops chasing its target position and only resists motion with damping, letting the robot settle down gently.

Damping mode is a protective state for joint motors, provided directly by Unitree's SDK and remote control, among others. A joint motor commonly computes its output torque as τ = kp(q_target − q) + kd(q̇_target − q̇) + τff, where q is joint angle, q̇ is angular velocity, kp and kd are the stiffness and damping gains, and τff is a feedforward torque. Damping mode sets kp, τff, and the target velocity all to zero while keeping only kd, so τ = −kd·q̇: the joint applies no force while at rest, and resists as soon as it starts moving. Compared with zero-torque mode (where kd is also zero and the joint goes completely limp), damping mode lets the robot settle down slowly instead of collapsing abruptly, which is why it's commonly used as the safety fallback when a program exits or something goes wrong.

ExampleIn Unitree's unitree_rl_gym real-robot deployment workflow, pressing the remote's select button during locomotion control puts the robot into damping mode, where it sinks down and the program exits; in code, the damping command is simply kp = 0 and kd = 8 with zero feedforward torque for every motor, i.e. τ = −8·q̇.

Also called

Damp Mode, Protective Damping State

Related

Damping · Stiffness and Damping Gains · MIT Mode · Emergency Stop · Protective Stop · Unitree SDK2

Sources

unitree_rl_gym 真机部署说明（中文 README） (Chinese)
unitree_rl_gym command_helper.py（create_damping_cmd）
unitree_sdk2 g1_loco_client.hpp（Damp / ZeroTorque 接口） (Chinese)

As of

2026-09